America Is A Country Divided

America may be a young nation compared to those around those around the world and we as a nation have achieved a lot in our years. One battle that we have been fighting since the birth of our nation however is one against our own people. For years we have been divided by the colors of our skin and our heritage. Although Caucasian people may be the majority of our population, individually there are just as diverse of people in their origins as the minorities of this country. It just isn’t as apparent as having a culture branded into a skin tone. America is known as a melting pot of races from all over the globe. A lot of people seem to have forgotten where they came from after generations of searching for the “American Dream,” thus creating a typical “white American”. One instance where the white Americans banded together and discriminated against one race occurred after the bombing at Pearl Harbor. The racism that occurred against Japanese Americans is not as talked about as slavery, but the fact that it is talked about so little just goes to show that Americans are willing to sweep horrendous acts against our own people under the rug.

In recent years, Americans have become more divided as a people. Many people say America has not been as divided since the Civil War as we are now. America is not supposed to be divided, but lately, it has been. Overall, Americans have been divided as a whole, and some of the main reasons are because of politics, wealth, and race.

Generally speaking, anyone who lives in the United States of America knows that there are two main political parties—the Republicans and the Democrats. Having two main parties has its advantages and, of course, its disadvantages. For example, in By the People James E. Monroe and Rogan Kersh (301) point out having this type of system creates “predictability and stability.” However, they also declare (301) it can “lead to a gridlock.” This is not a new concept either as there has been a divide since the beginning of both parties. The two parties more often than not disagree on various issues, while rarely agreeing on what is best for the country.

Imagine our government without the structure and aspects of our modern day. Well, this wouldn’t have emerged without the differing ideas from the brilliant minds of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. They were both strong political leaders who shaped the country, Revolutionary War heroes, lawyers, and served in the Continental Congress.However,from the beginning, the two men harbored opposing visions of the nation’s path. In George Washington’s Farewell Address of 1796, the president warned that the creation of political parties, “sharpened by the spirit of revenge,” would certainly lead to “formal and permanent despotism.” Despite Washington’s words, he didn’t know two of his closest advisors and cabinet members, would ultimately help form the dual party system of the U.S. Furthermore, contrasting the two is not difficult, simply because of their stark differences concerning each of the men’s visions for America.

The tension caused by the political stalemate of the current two-party system in the United States of America undoubtedly trickles down to the day to day living of the average person. It is, without question, one of the most indecisive eras in the political history of the United States. As a representative democracy, the decisions made by those on Capitol Hill should reflect the wills of the American majority, but to say such might imply that the majority wishes ill happenings onto their less numerous counterparts. Such an assertion can be supported by purported discrimination by law makers, economic disagreement, political indecisiveness, intrepid abuse of power by American law enforcement officers, and social injustices represented by the

Our nation had been divided since it was Established. We have been though a lot of trials and tribulation . Our nation has been divided though race and Political parties.

In a democracy citizens are to hold elected officials accountable for their actions in order to ensure delegates are doing what is expected of them. American citizens seem to be living well off enough that they are callous when considering the large problems that other citizens face. A lack in sympathy between citizens conjoined with contradicting social and religious views has created a retrenchment of followership in America. In order for political leaders to gather a large following, their followers must unite over some type of idea imperative in their lives. Unfortunately, Americans report a growing rancor between Democrats and Republicans according to the pew research center, with more than twice as many party members reporting members of the opposite party as unfavorable in 2014 than in 1994. The bipartisan divide has led political leaders to only be able to amass small followings amongst members of their

In Badger’s and Choksi article “How We Became Bitter Political Enemies” as published by the New York Times, the authors discuss the matter of the worsening political relations between the Democrat and Republican party. This article presents the sore relations of the two parties as an occurrence that has only “significantly worsened over the last 50 years” due to both sides of the aisle fostering a growing animosity towards the other side. The animosity, however, has evolved from disagreeing over policies and legislation, to outright disliking someone just due to the party they represent. As a result, the Democrat and Republican party tension has become more personal over recent decades, and bipartisanship has suffered due to this.

This past week we discussed briefly, The Disappearing Center, specifically the Polarization in the Age of Obama and how there is an expanding gap between the ideals of the republicans and democrats. In his book, Alan I. Abramowitz argues that polarization is most prevalent in those who are politically engaged, who provide support for the campaigns of elected officials (mainly those who provide money), and those who feel as though they are connected to the candidate and actively support the campaign. At the beginning of most presidencies, the president generally starts off with an approval rating above fifty percent, much like in the case of President Obama, who had sixty percent approval rating among the American people. Even though there

Mary “Mimi” Carstens, a good friend of mine with a deep knowledge and understanding of politics which reach far beyond her years, initially confirmed my main theories, as well as confirming the Pew Reasearch Center’s statistics in her assertion that “The Republicans could be seen with a handful of liberals and the Democrats had many conservatives in their midst. However, the parties seem to have essentially purified their ideologies and there is much less diversity in that sense, causing a great divide between the two parties--the Republicans moving farther right and the Democrats moving farther left.” However both Mimi and Mr. Lindley conflicted with my ideas about the dual-party system. Mr. Lindley viewed the dual-party system as being a beneficial institution, as fractured governing bodies can make way for totalitarianism to rear its head, an example he used in particular being the overly-diverse Reichstag which allowed the Nazi Party to take hold over Germany. He also argued that within the two parties there is enough ideological diversity to have six or more “parties” currently in congress, each main party being divisible into major factions, such as Democratic socialists (Bernie Sanders),

Modern day political scientists have noted that America’s current Congress, the 114th is the most polarized ideologically in history meaning the Democrat make up is more liberal and the Republican make up is more conservative than ever before. This ultimately leave very little room in between for agreement thus essentially slowly fading away the congressional center where moderate outlook exists to tie the two sides of the aisle together. It is commonly acknowledged that the system has become extensively polarized and is often referred to as broken as a result. Given this fact, it is imperative to examine just how America’s political system has so rapidly evolved and what those who came before us had to say about the concept of a two party

AMERICA'S two-party system is a creaking monstrosity that has helped bring its politics to a grinding halt. The country urgently needs a nationally competitive third party (if not a fourth and a fifth) to crack up its frozen ideological landscape, and to shift incentives away from the politics of total resistance and towards deal-making and compromise. That said, it is not entirely clear just how big a role the two-party system plays in creating America's policy paralysis. Many factors have combined to hobble American governance. How important is the two-party system, specifically?

The most dividing factor in American politics is not racism, atheism, or even collectivism. There was a time when two people of polar opposite political viewpoints could be decent to one another. That time, for much of the nation, has long passed. The origin of this divide is the political tactic of vilification. Instead of proving that the opposition's policies are contrary to the well-being of the nation, these politicians vilify the opposition's policies and label any supporter of them. Some of these labels include inhumane, unpatriotic, anti-semitic, and racist. Labeling a policy with an odious remark provides the opposition with an avenue to pass through our government unchecked. For example, any politician that discusses entitlement reform gains the label of inhumane and corrupt because it is seen as stealing from the needy. In light of this information, one must watch the discourse in America with a skeptic's eye; waiting for the shiny white labels to appear on the jackets of the candidates speaking. Instead of diminishing candidates for speaking on

The work of Converse goes further and suggests that the American party system, historically aligned on the traditional conservative-liberal dichotomy, is not one that has created a consistent space for civil societal discussion of foreign policy issues. Rather, and given that this dichotomy has socialized the

When one sits down and takes a look at the Constitution of the United States, it is evident that any reference of political parties is absent from its pages. However in modern American politics, political parties essentially define the entire political ideology spectrum in the United States. The two major parties that encompass modern politics are the Democrats, and the Republicans. The ideologies of these two entities however are at opposite ends of the ideological spectrum, and contain almost no overlap. With no similarity in ideas of how a government should be run and what policies are important, both sides of the political system aspire to be in charge because they believe that their way is better than any other. This perpetuates a constant